The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-03-20
All. THERE!

All, THERE!
A Chicago court recently gave a judicial
construction of the word "crank, and decided
how far one ought to 90 in using it without
mourning the penalty of libel. Now Louis
vile judge has performed somewhat similar
service in regard to the use of slang The
parties to the suit were Mr.. A. and Mrs. B.
Mrs. B., a local paper says, "was becomingly at
tired in close fitting black silk dress, with a
fashionable black and velvet bonnet trimmed
with large brown ostrich feathers. She wore
a tight short seal sacque and light brown kid
solitaire diamond earring. These jewels were,
in part, the cause of the trouble between the
two families. Mr.. A. being put on the stand
testified that Mr.. B. owed him a debt, which
he had tried very hard to collect,
but that the only property Mr. and
Mrs. B. had was the diamond ear
These he had caused to be levied upon, and
the suit was then pending. On the previous
Saturday afternoon he and his wife attended
a matinee, and, after the performance, as
they were passing along the street, they met
Mrs. B., who looked at them, and shaking
her earrings, said: "Ah there, my diamond
earrings; don't you wish you had them?"
This made the witness very angry. It was
bad enough to have the diamond earrings
shaken in his and his estimable wife's faces,
but the jeering remark was what CALLED him.
The more he thought about it the madden he
got and that night he swore out war
rant charging Mrs. B. with disorderly conduct.
His testimony was corroborated as to the
street incident by his wife and another wit
ness. The defendant being placed on the stand
testified as follows:
"My boy is very much addicted to slang,
and his favorite phrase, to be used on all oc-
| casions is, 'Ah, there; stay there; if you
| haven't got car-fare walk there We were
walking along Fourth avenue, when my son
Russell stopped at one of the awning-posts
| turned around, and, looking at him, I said,
| 'Ah, there, RUSSELL I happened to turn
around, and met Mr.. and Mrs A. heard her
say to her husband, Did you hear that slang9'
This made me angry, and, shaking my ear
rings with my hands, l said to her, Don't you
wish you had themP"
This was the defense. After full hearing
of the case the court fined the defendant and
placed her under peace bond of 800 for six
months. This is leading case, being SO far
as we know, the first judicial decision as to
the legal consequences of using slang on the
streets. It is not to be supposed that the
defendant in this case was fined for merely
shaking her diamond earrings in the faces of
the plaintiff and his wife, for the wearers OF
diamond jewels frequently do that in more
or less offensive way. One of the legitimate
uses of diamonds is to faunt them conspicu-
ously in the faces Of those who have none,
and as the custom is quite common it could
hardly have given offense in this case. Evil
IDENTIFY it was the accompanying re-
mark that wounded Mrs. A. Per
haps even the remark might have
been overlooked but for the slangy portion OF
it. Mr.. A. could not and would not stand
"Ah, there" This it was, no doubt that
reused the indignation of himself and his
sympathetic spouse, and determined them tc
have the defendant arrested. The defense
was ingenious and characteristic. Mrs. A.
tried to throw the responsibility on her son,
who was addicted to slang, and from whom
she claimed to have learned it. Doubtless
many parents do pick up slang in this way
finding it easier to adopt bad habit than t.
correct it, and it shows how careful
children ought to be. No chile
who has proper sense of responsibility
or regard for the welfare of its parents will
encourage and aid them in forming a bai
habit which may cling to them through life
Truly good children cannot be too careful ir
this regard. In the present case, whateve,
may be thought of the defendants statement
as mitigating the offenso of using slang a